The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office in Florida has revealed shocking details involving charges against former Southern Baptist Pastor Jonathan Elwing, who was arrested last week on child sexual abuse material (CSAM) charges.
Editor’s note: This article contains information about child sex abuse and assault that some readers might find disturbing and/or triggering.
Elwing, 43, was arrested after an investigation revealed that he allegedly purchased CSAM with cryptocurrency. He resigned as pastor of his church, Palm View Baptist Church in Palmetto, Florida, prior to being taken into custody.
Elwing was initially charged with four counts of possession of CSAM. Earlier this week, 14 additional charges were brought against him.
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On Thursday (June 27), the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office revealed in a statement that investigators reportedly found images on Elwing’s phone of him sexually abusing a child, resulting in two capital sexual battery charges.
Additionally, Elwing has been charged with six more counts of possession of CSAM and six counts of production of CSAM.
“A forensic search of the former pastor’s cell phone revealed images of him sexually battering a child along with the production and possession of 12 images of child pornography,” the statement said. “This is in addition to the four sexually explicit images of children found in his possession last week.”
“Detectives continue to examine Elwing’s cell phone and expect to find more illegal material on his computer,” the statement continued. “Additional charges are forthcoming.”
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Prior to his arrest, Elwing had been involved with Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) denominational politics. Elwing had been a member of the Florida chapter of the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN), a group formed in 2020 to combat what it sees as “liberal drift” in the SBC.
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